Sep. 29, 2013

Cirrus clouds float high above the Capitol in Washington last week as members of Congress worked toward a path that could fund the government or shut it down by Tuesday. / AP

TELL US YOUR VIEWS

Do you agree with this editorial? Or do you think it’s worth shutting down the federal government or damaging the nation’s creditworthiness to gain a political victory in Washington? Please email your views in a Letter to the Editor to sbyopinions@DelmarvaNow.com; or mail them to Letters to the Editor, The Daily Times, 618 Beam St., Salisbury, Md., 21801; or share them on our Facebook page at Facebook.com/TheDelmarvaDailyTimes. We’ll publish them in Saturday’s newspaper.

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This editorial was written last week, and no doubt there have been subsequent twists and turns in the dramatic confrontation in Washington over whether or not the government will shut down on Tuesday.

But the concern to all Americans should not be those twists and turns — which will ultimately be resolved for good or for ill — but the fact that the executive and legislative branches have painted themselves into this corner in the first place.

Our way of governing, indeed our very sense of being one nation, is falling apart. If we, the public, don’t insist to our leaders that they repair this sad state of affairs, it will only hasten a loss of standing for the United States both in our own eyes and in those of the world.

The prevailing approach in Washington to resolving very real policy disputes has become various forms of “I’ll hold my breath till I get my way” or “I’ll take my ball and go home if I don’t get my way.” These are childish tactics, wielded by our nation’s own leaders. And just as a recalcitrant child inevitably ends up in “time out,” the endless brinkmanship in Washington is going to lead us to a place we don’t want to be.

This is true regardless of your own personal politics. Indeed, it may be true in part because of your own personal politics. If you think that all House Republicans are an affront to good governing, you are guilty of demonizing them.

Similarly, if you believe President Barack Obama should be impeached (for what?) or should never have become president in the first place, you are guilty of the same.

The point is, the president and members of Congress were all dutifully elected by the voters. Our nation’s founders rightly recognized that power rests with the people, and that the single best expression of that power was through the vote.

But it’s become clear, going back to the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, that some segments of the public, the special interests lobbying scene and elected officials themselves aren’t satisfied with elections alone as the ultimate bellwether for our political system.

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In 1995, Republicans emboldened by the success of Rep. Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America,” shut down the federal government twice. President Clinton, as wily as they come, managed to generate increased public support for himself and his agenda out of that episode, and the GOP revolution in Congress was slowed. By 1998, the House resorted to impeaching the president (who was not removed from office and again gained sympathy and support in the public’s eyes).

During the Bush administration, some Democrats talked of impeaching the president and used various tactics to hold up Bush appointments. Throughout “W.’s” second term, Democrats attempted to lay him low, image-wise, often demonstrating a lack of respect for the office of the presidency.

Today, the parties are reversed but the effort is the same. Is President Obama “the worst president in history,” as some Republicans claim? Well, the biographers of James Buchanan, Warren Harding and Richard Nixon might have something to say about that. Similarly, Democrats regularly zap tea party supporters, not choosing to recognize that House Republicans (and a few senators) who possess such views were elected fairly by their fellow Americans.

The end result is a “War of the Roses” scenario in which people and institutions that should be jointly committed to the welfare of our nation are instead tearing down the chandeliers. Trashing our government — whether by shutting it down, reneging on its bills or simply making it ineffective — is no way to further the interests of the United States or its citizens.

It is fair to say that President Obama and the Democratic Congress of 2010 should have worked harder to find a bipartisan approach to universal health care. It is fair to say now that holding our government’s very ability to function hostage is no way for Republicans to seek to peel back that health care law.

But what’s clearer than ever is that regular citizens need to call, write or email their congressional representatives and the White House and say as emphatically as possible this: Stop messing around.